<nettime> US gov demands Google search records

["lsi" <stuart@cyberdelix.net>]

[The lesson here is simple.  Anytime someone builds a database, they 
are creating an object which is coveted by criminals/government.  It 
seems to me the best thing to do, from a developer/administrator 
standpoint, is to avoid making them - and from a user's perspective, 
avoid using big, popular, juicy databases... if you have to, then try 
and be a dog named Joe who lives in Estonia at the time.  Stand by 
for a resurgence in interest in chained proxies.  Waiting for an HTTP 
proxy in some popular P2P clients, with crypto.  See also:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4630694.stm - Stu]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/19/feds_subpoena_google_search_records/

US gov demands Google search records	
Fishing expedition

By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco
Published Thursday 19th January 2006 19:17 GMT

The US Department of Justice has taken Google to court, demanding it 
hand over all searches made in a one week period. It's a fishing 
expedition, unconnected with any ongoing criminal prosecution. The 
DOJ wants the information to back up its attempt to revive an anti-
pornography law derailed by the Supreme Court two years ago.

The subpoena was issued last year, and Google refused the request - 
but we only learn of the case week, via a San Jose Mercury News 
report. The DoJ has now ordered a Federal Judge to force Google to 
comply.

It's a step too far even for a company with a fast and loose attitude 
to privacy.

"Google is not a party to this lawsuit, and the demand for the 
information is overreaching,'' Google counsel Nicola Wong told the 
Merc.

Google sets its cookies to expire in 2038, and launched products and 
services which make that cookie personally identifiable with a user, 
such as GMail, and a "personalized" search page.

"We are moving to a Google that knows more about you," Google CEO 
Eric Schmidt promised last year.

If, as looks likely, the DoJ succeeds, then surfers worldwide will 
have a US Attorney General who knows a lot more about you, too.


---
Stuart Udall
stuart at@cyberdelix.dot net - http://www.cyberdelix.net/

--- 
 * Origin: lsi: revolution through evolution (192:168/0.2)




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